The Anonymous Widower

Exagen Given Green light for new 500MW / 1GWh Battery Storage Project In Leicestershire

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on PV Magazine.

This is the outline of the project, which will be called the Normanton Energy Reserve.

The new 500MW / 1GWh battery site will be capable of powering 235,000 homes for two hours, equivalent to 80% of the homes in Leicestershire.

Approximately 45% of the 19-acre site will be set aside to improve biodiversity by extending Normanton Millennium Wood and creating wildflower meadows. The project will deliver more than 25% biodiversity net gain.

Exagen will establish a circa £4M community fund to spend on improvements in the local area, with residents consulted on how the fund is used.

Note.

  1. A 500MW / 1GWh battery is not small.
  2. The size probably makes it a good backup for Leicestershire.
  3. Nineteen acres is a 277 metre square.
  4. Any biodiversity net gain is worthwhile.
  5. A £4M community fund is not to be sneezed at.

It all sounds very good.

Normanton Wood has a web site, where this is said on the home page.

Normanton Wood is one of The Woodland Trust’s ‘Woods on Your Doorstep’ woodlands created to commemorate the Millennium. It lies near Earl Shilton Leicestershire and was planted by members of the local community.

This Google map shows the wood.

Note.

  1. The red arrow indicates Normanton Millennium Wood.
  2. I suspect that cleared space in the woodland leading South-East from the red arrow is about 300 metres long and 15 metres wide, which is about 1.1 acres
  3. As Normanton Millennium Wood is 16.75 acres, I suspect it includes all the woodland to the East of the red arrow, up to the cultivated farmland.
  4. If you look carefully, you can see a large electricity pylon in the wider cleared area, to the South of the red arrow.
  5. When I created this map, I clipped it so that the next pylons to the North-West and South-East were in the respective corners of the map.

This second map shows the land to the West of the red arrow, which is enclosed by the roads.

Note.

  1. As before the red arrow indicates Normanton Millennium Wood.
  2. The electricity pylon is clearly visible on the cleared strip.
  3. The land to the East of the cleared strip looks like its been planted with trees in the last decade or so.
  4. The land to the West of the cleared strip looks more like scrub, that has grown up after years of neglect.
  5. I estimate that the area of the cleared strip and the scrub, is around nineteen acres.
  6. This news story from Exagen, is entitled Woodland Planting At Normanton Energy Reserve – Becca Leake is a must-read as it outlines how woodland will be planted at the site.

As there is no local substation, it looks to me, that a new substation will be built close to the electricity pylon, with the battery to its West.

Conclusion

It seems a good design for a large battery site, which will be shielded from neighbours by a large area of woodland.

I am also sure, that this battery and the one talked about in New Octopus Energy Makes First Investment To Develop UK’s Largest Battery, are the same battery.

All the numbers in both articles are identical.

 

January 15, 2024 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , | 1 Comment